Why the Whaleshares Pre-Launch Was A Bitter-Sweet Event For Me

Mournful salute and reverence,

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Yesterday was the pre-launch of the new and highly anticipated WHALESHARES platform. As people in the Whaleshares Discord Server were eagerly awaiting the official statement to be released, the excitement was palpable...

I had only myself learned about Whaleshares, as an upcoming platform, about a week earlier. Before then, I had heard the name, but presumed it was yet another "coin" floating amidst the crypto seas without really having the opportunity to research more about it. Until a fellow Steem Monsters afficionado, @crystalhuman, insisted I should look more closely into the matter, else I might end up missing out on something big...

So, following his invitation, I had joined the Discord
( https://discord.gg/2EVpuEx) and spent the week meeting highly enthusiastic people on the server, all part of this effervescent community, like @steamdan , @krazykrista , @freedomexists , @powerpics , @seveaux and so many more welcoming folk, all happy to answer my questions about the soon to be launched platform.

As some of you might know (but I did not at the time), a "snapshot" of the Bitshares blockchain had been taken, on the first day of August, concerning the amount of Bitshares, "Brownie points" and Whaleshares each account held, in relation with the Whaleshares "sharedrop", i.e. a proportionate amount of "whalestakes" (a token similar in purpose to what steem power is for Steemit) to be available to claim by new users, at the time of account creation...

Since I had "missed the boat" for the airdrop, I knew I would not be getting any WLS initially, but, as apparently were also thinking many of the people I had been talking to on the Discord server, I thought I could still "purchase" an account at pre-launch by sending the required amount of Whaleshares (500) to the address that was supplied on the "claim process" page. I was very excited! A few days prior, I had managed to sell some of my other crypto assets for a decent price, even in this awfully bearish market, and was able to purchase 501 whaleshares (maybe I subconsciously knew I would end up needing one more share) from the Bitshares DEX, looking forward to August 15th with great anticipation...

But when a friendly @steamdan messaged me the links, on Wednesday night, the harsh reality caught up with me soon after: I wasn't able to access the platform! I had followed all the steps involved in account creation, sent the Whaleshares, including the required "memo", then carefully copied and saved the pre-generated keys, only to end up getting a "username does not exist" prompt when I attempted to login. Of course, the people of the Discord server were keen to help and demanded I posted a detailed recounting of my situation so they could ask the "devs" for a solution, as soon as possible...

To my disappointment, I found out the next morning that I would not be able to join the pre-launch after all, as the developers specified the account creation was limited, for the time being, to those that qualified for the sharedrop and had Whalestakes to claim. Therefore, my Whaleshares would be refunded to me. To put it simply, I WAS PISSED!...

Evidently, the rational side of me understands the process has its requirements and limitations, even though I would have prefered to know from the start I would not be able to join until the actual launch. That way, I might not have built up so much anticipation towards it, only to end up disappointed. Because the little kid in me, the one that was eager to join the parade, was left hearing the music and the drums, but not being able to take part in the fanfare, and THAT is what ails me so much...

Sure, I am happy for the community, just to know that the platform launched with much success, and could not help but peek at the posts already published by those that were lucky enough to sign up. Many familiar names submiting introduction posts, all in which the excitement is again palpable. But, as much as the adult in me tries to convince the kid in me otherwise, I am left with a bitter-sweet after taste and a feeling of being left behind...

I just wish it had been clear from the start that only those who qualified for the sharedrop would be allowed in, I would then have not gone crazy with anticipation for nothing, because that's the part I find hard to swallow. As far as everything else is concerned, I wish Whaleshares the greatest of successes, and I am convinced it WILL be succesful, but for now, I will be taking some time descanting these sour grapes and keeping myself distracted. I will need to take some time away from it all before I can go back to the platform and have another look at the posts, as it presently would be like twisting the knife in the wound, seeing all this thriving and not being able to interact. I will come around, that's for sure, but at this time, all I needed was to get it off my chest and move on...

Thank you for taking the time to read how I feel, may we all meet there at the official launch!...

Long live Whaleshares!

Love is the Law, love under will.

The Reverend Maelstrohm Black